President Obama's final press conference is about to start. Watch it here and share your thoughts and observations.
Obama graphic by DonkeyHotey via Creative Commons license.
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Kevin Koster commented
2017-01-19 10:08:26 -0500
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O’Reilly and Hannity each had really funny segments last night on President Obama’s last presser. O’Reilly angrily demanded that Obama publicly renounce Dems who have chosen to not attend Trump’s coronation ceremony. Hannity went farther – he tried to rehabilitate George W Bush, on the basis that Bush has never commented on the Obama presidency other than to say he thought he was a good guy. And he castigated the 2008 Obama campaign for noting the failure of Bush’s policies and the collapse of the economy, and connecting the McCain campaign to the outgoing administration.
A. O’Reilly seems to have forgotten how the GOP held a vicious strategy session in the shadow of the 2009 Inauguration, specifically to plan to obstruct every single thing that President Obama and the Dems attempted, and then to use that as campaign material. I have never, ever heard O’Reilly denounce this as un-American or unpatriotic. O’Reilly does not get to choose when these activities are ethically or morally compromised. If he’s getting on his moral high horse, he’ll need to be able to explain that one.
B. Hannity conveniently forgets that Bush did in fact leave the country in a massive recession, and left a gigantic mess for Obama to clean up. Hannity also conveniently forgets that Bush left office as one of the least popular Presidents in history (at least until acting president Pence does real damage starting tomorrow…) and that Obama is leaving office as one of the most popular Presidents.
C. Hannity has somehow instantly forgotten how the Trump Campaign and all GOP campaigns in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 repeatedly used phrases to say that President Obama was a failed president and that there was a massive mess we now had to clean up. (A curious assertion given that we emerged from the recession 6 years ago and Trump is actually inheriting a much healthier economy – which Pence will now of course ransack.)
D. Hannity deliberately forgets that George W Bush has remained silent because Dick Cheney is constantly making nasty comments about President Obama. I love how the Right tries to play these games. Past Presidents shouldn’t ever say anything negative about the current President as that would be unseemly. For shame. But a past Vice President who was really running a lot of that prior presidency? Fox News wants that guy to come right in and start the insult train. (And we won’t even get into the fact that Cheney has always been able to articulate the Hard Right response while W. Bush has always been known for fumbling such statements. My favorite W statement is still the one about tough economic times making it hard for some folks to “put food on their families.”
I really wonder if O’Reilly and Hannity actually think people are so blind that they can’t remember what happened in even recent history?
A. O’Reilly seems to have forgotten how the GOP held a vicious strategy session in the shadow of the 2009 Inauguration, specifically to plan to obstruct every single thing that President Obama and the Dems attempted, and then to use that as campaign material. I have never, ever heard O’Reilly denounce this as un-American or unpatriotic. O’Reilly does not get to choose when these activities are ethically or morally compromised. If he’s getting on his moral high horse, he’ll need to be able to explain that one.
B. Hannity conveniently forgets that Bush did in fact leave the country in a massive recession, and left a gigantic mess for Obama to clean up. Hannity also conveniently forgets that Bush left office as one of the least popular Presidents in history (at least until acting president Pence does real damage starting tomorrow…) and that Obama is leaving office as one of the most popular Presidents.
C. Hannity has somehow instantly forgotten how the Trump Campaign and all GOP campaigns in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 repeatedly used phrases to say that President Obama was a failed president and that there was a massive mess we now had to clean up. (A curious assertion given that we emerged from the recession 6 years ago and Trump is actually inheriting a much healthier economy – which Pence will now of course ransack.)
D. Hannity deliberately forgets that George W Bush has remained silent because Dick Cheney is constantly making nasty comments about President Obama. I love how the Right tries to play these games. Past Presidents shouldn’t ever say anything negative about the current President as that would be unseemly. For shame. But a past Vice President who was really running a lot of that prior presidency? Fox News wants that guy to come right in and start the insult train. (And we won’t even get into the fact that Cheney has always been able to articulate the Hard Right response while W. Bush has always been known for fumbling such statements. My favorite W statement is still the one about tough economic times making it hard for some folks to “put food on their families.”
I really wonder if O’Reilly and Hannity actually think people are so blind that they can’t remember what happened in even recent history?
Kevin Koster commented
2017-01-18 17:05:21 -0500
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Well, that was the last time we’ll have civility in that room for the next 4 years. Unfortunate, but that’s what happens when enough Dems do not show up to vote. Hopefully, they will have learned their lesson by the 2018 midterms. And it’s crucial that they understand their mistake by 2020, when we are likely to be looking at a totally different federal government…
Ellen commented
2017-01-18 14:30:47 -0500
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PBO: “My hope is the you will continue with the same tenacity that you showed us of doing the hard work of getting to the bottom of stories … and to push this country to be the best version of itself.”
Ellen commented
2017-01-18 14:30:07 -0500
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Also the importance of a “well-informed citizenry.” He added, “American needs you and democracy needs you.”
Ellen commented
2017-01-18 14:28:49 -0500
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Obama starts with appreciation for a strong press corps not made up of “sycophants.”